Gordon Brown’s bad-tempered abuse of his staff led the head of the civil
service to warn the Prime Minister over his behaviour, a new book as
claimed.

Sir Gus O’Donnell, the Cabinet Secretary, privately spoke to Mr Brown about his conduct because of a number of angry outbursts that left Downing Street staff and aides “frightened and bruised.”

The claims are made in The End of the Party, by Andrew Rawnsley, a political commentator who said he based his reports on hundreds of interviews with officials and politicians who witnessed the events described.

The book, described as “malicious” by No 10, depicts the Prime Minister’s office as a place dominated by Mr Brown’s black moods, tantrums at staff and even moments of physical violence towards people and objects.

It also details the way in which aides to Mr Brown undermined Cabinet ministers, the concerns about Mr Brown’s leadership among senior ministers, and the poisonous relations between members of the Prime Minister’s inner circle.

Sir Gus spoke to several “frightened duty clerks, badly treated phone operators and other bruised staff” about the Prime Minister's behaviour, the book says. He told them “Don’t take it personally”.

One reported incident – which has been widely rumoured around Westminster for several years – saw Mr Brown shove a No 10 secretary out of her chair because she was not typing quickly enough.

The book says that the climate in Downing Street was dominated by the Prime Minister’s violent tantrums and outbursts of anger.

One civil servant who applied for a job at No 10 withdrew the application after being asked at the interview whether he was prepared to endure personal abuse in the post.

Sir Gus is reported to have spoken to Mr Brown himself about his treatment of civil servants, warning him: “This is no way to get things done.”

There are also several reports of Mr Brown being violent and abusive towards his political aides.

In the autumn of 2007, Gavin Kelly, the deputy chief of staff at No 10, told Mr Brown that HM Revenue and Customs had lost computer discs holding the personal data of more than 20 million people.

The scandal was a major embarrassment to the Government, and the book records that Mr Brown responded by grabbing Mr Kelly by the lapels and shouting: “They're out to get me!”

In another incident, Mr Brown is said to have angrily rounded on Stewart Wood, an Oxford don and political adviser, moments before a meeting with European ambassadors in Downing Street.

“Why have I got to meet these ----ing people?" he is said to have yelled at Mr Wood, shoving him in the arm. “Why are you making me meet these ---ing people?”

In 2007, after Mr Brown’s speech to the Labour Party conference, it was reported that large sections of the speech had been copied from speeches given by US politicians.

Mr Brown is reported to have blamed Bob Shrum, his US consultant and speech writer, over the report.

He is quoted as screaming at the American: “How could you do this to me, Bob? How could you ----ing do this to me?"

The book recounts that Mr Brown often had angry outbursts when travelling in his official car.

In one incident, the Prime Minister, sitting in the back seat, is said to have punched the headrest of the seat in front of him, startling the police protection officer sitting in the seat.

In other incidents, Mr Brown stabbed the seat back using a pen. “The cream upholstery of the seat-back in front of Brown was flecked with black marks. When having a meltdown the prime minister would habitually stab it with his black marker pen.”

In a statement, the Cabinet Office denied that Sir Gus asked anyone else to investigate Mr Brown's conduct. It did not respond to the suggestion that he had personally investigated the matter, or comment on the report that he had privately spoken to Mr Brown about his behaviour.

UNDERMINING THE CHANCELLOR

When he became Prime Minister, Mr Brown hoped to make Ed Balls, his long-serving adviser, Chancellor of the Exchequer. But a backlash from Cabinet ministers forced him to give the job to Alistair Darling.

Having made that appointment, the book reports that Mr Brown then repeatedly undermined his own chancellor.

In the summer of 2008, as the global financial crisis developed, Mr Darling warned that Britain was facing the worst economic downturn for 60 years.

The forecast, grim but accurate, infuriated Mr Brown, who was then insisting that the UK would emerge from the downturn within six months.

According to the to book, allies of Mr Brown including Charlie Whelan, a senior union official, and Damian McBride, then his political spokesman, then began a systematic campaign to undermine Mr Darling over the “60 years” interview, raising the prospect that he would be sacked.

Maggie Darling, the Chancellor’s wife, is reported to have been so angered by No 10 that she exclaimed: “The ----ing ----s are trying to stitch up Alistair. The ----s. I can’t believe they’re such ----s.”

Mr Darling personally confronted Mr Brown over the briefings, but Mr Brown denied any knowledge of the campaign.

During the summer of 2009, Mr Brown planned to remove Mr Darling from the Treasury and replace him with Ed Balls.

The plan to oust the Chancellor brought a new confrontation between the two men.

As The Daily Telegraph reported at the time, Mr Darling told Mr Brown at a private meeting that he would resign rather than accept another job. Mr Brown then backed down, leaving Mr Darling and Mr Balls in their jobs.

JACK STRAW’S PLOT

Jack Straw, the Justice Secretary, began a plot to oust Mr Brown from No 10 in 2008, the book claims.

Mr Straw, one of the most senior members of the Cabinet, considered that he had a real chance of replacing Mr Brown as Prime Minister, it is said.

In the summer of 2008, as Labour’s poll ratings collapsed and Labour MPs worried about Mr Brown’s performance, Mr Straw told colleagues he was preparing to strike against Mr Brown.

After Labour lost the Glasgow East by-election, Mr Straw is reported to have told Charles Clarke, a leading backbench enemy of Mr Brown, that “something will be done” about the Prime Minister.

Mr Straw also discussed the issue with Frank Field and Stephen Byers, other former ministers critical of Mr Brown.

Although Mr Straw believed he had the support of Geoff Hoon, then the chief whip, and possibly Alistair Darling, the Chancellor, he decided over his holiday in August 2008 that an attempted coup could backfire, so he abandoned the possible plot.

In a statement on Sunday, Mr Straw admitted meetings with Mr Brown’s enemies, but denied plotting with them.

He said: “A number of people came to me to talk about their concerns for the party. Some of these people wished to see a change of leadership. They have not made a secret of this, then or now. But it is untrue that I was plotting to oust Gordon Brown.”

THE CANCELLED ELECTION

Mr Brown’s decision to plan and then cancel a general election in the autumn of 2007 triggered angry rows and divisions in his inner circle, the book reports.

After the election was cancelled, Mr Brown’s reputation as a decisive leader was seriously damaged.

Members of his inner circle feared blame over the debacle. According to the book, Ed Balls, who had strongly backed an early poll, attempted to shift the blame onto other ministers.

The book reports a row when Spencer Livermore, Mr Brown’s chief strategist, caught Damian McBride, his chief spokesman, briefing journalists that the election fiasco had been the responsibility of Douglas Alexander, the election coordinator, and Ed Miliband, the climate change secretary.

Mr McBride is reported to have told Mr Livermore he was implicating those ministers on the orders of Mr Balls.